Rocky, I won't be able to make your critique session this Szaturday. I'll be out of town, helping judge District High School Speech Championships (my daughter' who's a senior, will go to District this year--again). Do you do these the same Saturday every month? April might always be an option.

The "showcases" are good. SOSA does 5 a month, 3 at one tavern and 2 at another. 4 are on Saturday nights, and the fifth on a Friday night. I'm not sure how it got started--I'll have to ask someone. Presumably someone went to the venue owners and solicited. Good deal for the venue owners, because we can usually pack the place with our people, friends and families, and they all buy food, drinks, yada yada.

Gives the musicians experience playing in front of a live but generally supportive audience, too--and to try out new material on unsuspecting (but again, generally supportive) crowds. I've seen a fair number of SOSA members get gigs elsewhere as a result (even happened to me a couple of times, plus I found a band to play with).

Main thing I've contributed to this effort (besides doing their promotional posters) is encouraging these guys to play with each other. I now see a number of little impromptu bands performing people's material, instead of everybody doing their thing solo. And I do it myself: I maintain with the way I sing and play guitar, I sound a lot better when I've got backup, and most of 'em agree with me (but they also agree that nearly *everybody* sounds better with backup, too).

I would like to see how you folks do the critiques. I think we really need that.

I don't know any "pros" who teach seminars like you described. I have done it in a small way myself; I've given a seminar the past two years on songwriting at the Tillamook County Bluegrass Festival, but I am not a pro, and have to emphasize I do not know if I really have anything to contribute. (I think I do the Tillamook thing primarily to appreciate *their* thinking I'm a good writer who might have something to contribute, and whose name might draw people to the Festival. I have no idea whether it does.)

I will try to make it to one of y'all's future things. Please let me know when and where they are. Thanks.

Joe

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